The great agriculture welfare state (cont)

When 75 acres of Texas farmland was recently converted into a housing development, the new homeowners on these $300,000 properties became eligible for annual farm subsidies for their lawns, according to an article on Boston.com. Why? Because agriculture subsidies in the US are based on historical use so they continue after a change of use even if the new owners don't ask. And that is only one of the minor madnesses of US agriculture policy. You couldn't make it up.